Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-01-13
BEATING A RAILROAD.

gASAo . -
q railroad called the Rome, Watertown
u Some Other Place railroad. I believe
the some other place is Ogdensburs.
Last summer the occasion required that
I should use this line of railroad for
about sixty miles, and I left Rome one
morning feeling at peace with all man
kind. The conductor came along in
due time to take up the tickets, and I
made it Q point to ask him il he were on
time. l didn't care o copper whether
We were two hours ahead or two hours
behind time, hat | wanted exhibit a
friendly spirit and let him know I was
Interested in his welfare. A passenger
who won't show his hand to a conductor
ought to be made to ride in q baggage
car. He uttered q grunt in reply to nv
question and passed on, If he was too
~cverworked and heartegoken to utter
yes or no that was not my fault. He
put o green ticket in the baud of my
hat to show that ] WAS a cash passenger,
and | went to sleep to dream that q mad
populace was about to hang Jay Gould
because he didn't pay his railroad con-
dnctors q salary of $4,000 a year.
"TicketT yelled a voice in my eek
and | awoke to find the broken-hearted
conductor towering above me.
"What do You want?'
"Your Ticket
"Gaye it to you N hour ago."
where's your check ?"
Sin my hiatt"
"See here, young man." growled the
broken-hearted conductor, "I want your
check or Your fare"
The check Was. not In my hat. It was
not in any of my fourteen pockets. 1t
was not on the seat or the floor, nor
above nor beneath the earth. / took
ten minutes to satisfy the overworked
conductor Of this fact.
"But / had it'll persisted.
81 doubt it,"
Don't you remember OF my asking
you, when you took my ticket, We were
CT: .:asa2o
mo sir! III had ever been asked
such q question as that | should have
surely remembered it,"
t'This man here must have seen my
ticket, for l saw him looking into my
wallet"
"You are a liar" promptly responded
the passenger, who had the seat behind
me.
"And you must either pay your fare
or get off" added the conductor.
stLook here, old fellow, I bought my
ticket IN the regular way, handed it
over according to the rule, and the fact
that 1 have kept my seat for sixty miles
is evidence that you received the ticket.
Don't make . side show of yourself
about the check, which is but q bit of
cardboard. anyhow. I have always
~sympathized with conductors az a poor
but strlctly honest set of men. I feel
that your are overworked and overbur-
dened, and that You are many times the
object of unjust suspicious. When /
make my will | shall :eessmber ct least
twenty-five conductors to the extent
Of
~ want that checki""
II haven't got it"
"Then l want Your farrell"
II have paid once"
He reached up and seized the bell
"Wil yon pay
mot to day"
He pulled the cord and tbs train
came to a standstill in about q quarter
Of O mile.
s4Now then, off with y0u!"
"YouM have to put me.ofi I've paid
my fare, and il | go off ] want q show
for q suit for damages"
He beckoned for the brakeman. 1
have always sympathized with the brake
men as o class, believing them to be
gentle minded creatures who suffered
and endured simply to keep trains run
ming for the convenience OF the public.
The brakeman came and the pair lifted
no up an l helped me down the aisle
and dropped me off among the daisies
| sat down on the grass and as the train
moved off the conductor remarked:
Next time you try that dodge on me
you'll get badly thumped!"
/ sat there for twenty minutes and
then the rear end of the tram as it back
ed up came into view. 1t. stopped
opposite nde and the conductor came
down and said:
my dear sir, / beg o thousand psi.
fdons. We found your check under the
seat and have come back for yoa."
4.IEazE had 9 check.n
"You did,
"And ] am not q dead beRt?"
"IIl shoot the man who says you are"
but yon pnt me off and / want dam
ages from the company"
"Say don't, do il! You'll ruin me.
I've got two children sick with scarlet
fever. 8 wife who is bed ridden. :
mother who needs my support,
father -o
I got aboard and the train went on.
The man who called me q liar begged
my pardon. the brakeman wanted to
adopt me for his own son and q dozen
passengers came to shake hand, and say
that my -magnanimous spirit would
surely be rewarded In heaven.
Rough Weather on tho Ranges.
nA.l--.N.k- AT - IN n.AAIr-A--1